Robin L. Davisson, professor of molecular physiology, joined the faculty of Cornell University on July 1, 2006. Dr. Davisson had been a member of the faculty of The University of Iowa since 1998, where she taught neuroscience, cardiovascular physiology and genomics to medical, dental and graduate students. In addition to her traditional health sciences instructional activities, Professor Davisson created an innovative, widely recognized course at Iowa, "Survival Skills for a Research Career," focusing on the full spectrum of communication, grant-writing and other skills required for a successful career in science. Recently she received the 2005 Outstanding Mentor Award (Biological and Life Sciences) from the University of Iowa Graduate College for her exemplary mentoring of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students in the areas of research, teaching and career development.

Professor Davisson's research focuses on the basic mechanisms of function, control and signaling in the cardiovascular system in health and disease. Her investigations employ the interdisciplinary approach of "functional genomics," a new endeavor at the interface of classical physiology and molecular genetics. She has published numerous original research and review articles and book chapters, and has given invited presentations throughout the United States as well as in South America, Europe and Asia.

Her research has been funded by competitive grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and private industry. In addition, her research has earned multiple awards, including the Harry Goldblatt Award in Cardiovascular Research from the American Heart Association and the Henry Pickering Bowditch Award from the American Physiological Society. She has also won awards from the American Society of Hypertension, the International Society of Hypertension, and the International Congress of Physiological Sciences.

Professor Davisson has been actively involved in service to national and international organizations and journals. She has served on programming and steering committees for the American Physiological Society, and serves on the leadership and the programming committees of the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Council. She also serves on the editorial boards of Hypertension, Physiological Genomics, and the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative. From 2003-2005, she was associate editor for Experimental Physiology.

Professor Davisson earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Iowa in 1988 and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She earned a master's degree in psychology (1991) and her doctorate in pharmacology (1994), also from the University of Iowa. While a graduate student, she won a Norwegian Marshall Fund Award for Graduate Study Abroad. She completed a four-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Iowa Cardiovascular Research Center and the Center for Hypertension Genomics before joining the UI faculty as an assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology. She was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2004.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Davisson, R.L., Yang, G., Beltz, T.G., Johnson, A.K. and Sigmund, C.D. The brain renin-angiotensin system contributes to the hypertension in mice containing both the human renin and human angiotensinogen transgenes. Circulation Res. 83:1047-1058, 1998.
2. Butz, G.M. and Davisson, R.L. Long-term telemetric measurement of cardiovascular parameters in awake mice: a physiological genomics tool. Physiol. Genomics 5:89-97, 2001.
3. Lazartigues, E., Dunlay, S.M., Loihl, A.K., Sinnayah, P., Espelund, J.J., Lang, J.A., Sigmund, C.D. and Davisson, R.L. Brain-selective overexpression of angiotensin (AT1) receptors causes enhanced cardiovascular sensitivity in transgenic mice. Circulation Res. 90:617-624, 2002. (featured in editorial, Circulation Res. 90:503-505)
4. Sinnayah, P., Lindley, T.E., Staber, P.D., Cassell, M.D., Davidson, B.L. and Davisson, R.L. Selective gene transfer to key cardiovascular control regions of the brain: comparison of two viral vector systems. Hypertension 39:603-608, 2002. (figure from paper chosen for cover)
5. Davisson, R.L., Hoffmann, D.S., Butz, G.M., Aldape, G., Schlager, G., Merrill, D.C., Sethi, S., Weiss, R.M. and Bates, J.N. Discovery of a spontaneous genetic mouse model of preeclampsia. Hypertension 39:337-42, 2002. (received American Heart Association Harry Goldblatt Award based on this paper)
6. Zimmerman, M., Lazartigues, E., Lang, J.A., Sinnayah, P., Ahmad, I.M., Spitz, D.R., and Davisson, R.L. Superoxide mediates the actions of angiotensin II in the central nervous system. Circulation Res. 91(11):1038-45, 2002. (featured in editorial, Circulation Res. 91:982-983; figure from paper chosen for cover)
7. Lindley, T.E., Doobay, M.F., Sharma, R.V. and Davisson, R.L. Superoxide is involved in the central nervous system activation and sympatho-excitation of myocardial infarction-induced heart failure. Circulation Res. 94:402-409, 2004. (figure from paper chosen for cover)
8. Sinnayah, P., Lindley, T.E., Staber, P.D., Davidson, B.L., Cassell, M.D. and Davisson, R.L. Targeted viral delivery of cre recombinase induces conditional gene deletion in cardiovascular circuits of the mouse brain. Physiolog. Genomics 18:25-32, 2004. (featured in editorial, Physiolog. Genomics 18:1-3)
9. Zimmerman, M.C., Lazartigues, E., Sharma, R.V. and Davisson, R.L. Hypertension caused by angiotensin II infusion involves increased superoxide production in the central nervous system. Circulation Res. 95:210-216, 2004. (featured in editorial, Circulation Res. 95:122-124)
10. Dokras, A., Hoffmann, D.S., Eastvold, J.S., Kienzle, M.F., Gruman, L.M., Kirby, P.L., Weiss, R.M., Davisson, R.L. Severe feto-placental abnormalities precede the onset of hypertension and proteinuria in a mouse model of pre-eclampsia. Bio Reprod. 75:899-907, 2006.